﻿/****************************************************************************************
*	Mouzetrap - client/server framework	
*
*	$HeadURL: http://mouzetrap.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Mouzetrap/Network/IPacketTarget.cs $
*	$Id: IPacketTarget.cs 11 2009-06-11 09:10:25Z tobz@fallenrealms.net $
* 
*	Copyright (c) 2008 Toby Lawrence
* 
*	Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
*	of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
*	in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
*	to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
*	copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
*	furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
* 
*	The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
*	all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
* 
*	THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
*	IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
*	FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
*	AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
*	LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
*	OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
*	THE SOFTWARE.
* 
****************************************************************************************/

namespace Mouzetrap.Network
{
	/// <summary>
	/// Defines the interface of a packet handler.  A packet handler performs custom actions on a packet.
	/// </summary>
	/// <remarks>
	/// A packet handler ideally will be things such as client objects, and forwarders. A client in 
	/// the sense of <see cref="BaseClient{TServer}" /> has code to recieve data and 
	/// parse it into a packet.  Typically, another class would handle the packet routing after a valid packet 
	/// is assembled, but this can be done in the client class.  A forwarder is used to forward packets to other 
	/// remote endpoints.  This is required for clustering situations where a game client expects to connect to 
	/// a single address, where their requests may actually be served by multiple physical servers.  Due to 
	/// specific packets requiring handling in the server, or forwarding to other servers, this interface intends 
	/// to remove that seperation and provide a single description of any entity, physical or logical, that can 
	/// handle a packet from a game client.
	/// <remarks>
	public interface IPacketTarget
	{
		/// <summary>
		/// Handle a packet.
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="packet">the packet to handle</param>
		void Handle(IPacket packet);
	}
}